Cape airport runways to reopen today

The two runways at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport were scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. today after 10 days of construction work halted all flights into and out of the airport.

City officials plan to celebrate the event at an airport ceremony at 10 a.m. today.

Commuter flights are expected to resume Thursday with the first flight scheduled to arrive at the Cape Girardeau airport at 10:08 a.m., city officials said.

The contractor, Emery, Sapp and Sons of Columbia, Mo., worked around the clock on the project to improve the intersection of the two runways since beginning the $3.5 million project at 8 p.m. on Oct. 31.

"I know that the runway closures have been somewhat of an inconvenience, but the end result will be a huge asset to our airport," said airport manager Bruce Loy.

"The runway water drainage situation had needed attention for a very long time and unfortunately both runways had to be closed to reconstruct the entire intersection," Loy said.

Although the runways were scheduled to reopen, other improvements remain to be completed as part of the project. They include cutting grooves into the runways, striping the runways, and finishing up earthwork and seeding at the end of the runways.

Loy said the entire project, funded 95 percent by the federal government and 5 percent by the city, should be finished by Dec. 2.

Some temporary runway closures will occur in the coming weeks, but air traffic won't be disrupted since one runway will be open at all times, Loy said.

"We will be glad to see it opening back up," he said.